


secret

by soulofme



Series: sheith sentence prompts [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Lance & Shiro (Voltron) Friendship, M/M, keith and Lance are brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 23:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulofme/pseuds/soulofme
Summary: “Stop!” Keith hissed, shoving at his brother. Lance stumbled back but quickly righted himself. “What the hell is your problem?”“My problem,” Lance growled, “is that my best friend had the goddamn nerve to kiss my baby brother.”





	secret

**Author's Note:**

> [sentence prompt #2](http://stefansalfatore.tumblr.com/post/144981395239/sentence-prompts): get out.

Shiro had never seen Lance so angry.

His shoulders were hunched, his lips pulled into a nasty snarl. It worsened when Keith stepped towards him, putting himself between his brother and his best friend.

Well,  _former_  best friend, Shiro corrected bitterly. After all, there was no way Lance would ever talk to him again. Not with the way he was looking at him.

“Get away from him, Keith,” Lance continued, reaching forward for his brother’s arm. Keith easily evaded him.

“No, Lance,” Keith said, squaring his shoulders. If Lance was scary when upset, Keith was downright  _terrifying_. It was one of the similarities the McClain brothers shared. Shiro never imagined he would be on the other end of their fury, though.

“Lance…” Shiro tried, and recoiled when Lance’s icy glare landed on him.

“Stop!” Keith hissed, shoving at his brother. Lance stumbled back but quickly righted himself. “What the hell is your problem?”

“My  _problem_ ,” Lance growled, “is that my  _best friend_  had the goddamn nerve to kiss my  _baby brother_.”

“Lance, I’m sorry,” Shiro said, barely short of pleading. “I swear to God, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Shiro noticed Keith’s full-body flinch. Almost instantly, he felt his blood turn to ice in his veins.

Lance’s lips curled with contempt. “Get out.”

“Don’t,” Keith started, but his voice had lost all of his fight. Shiro wanted to cry at how weak he sounded.

“Get out!” Lance screamed, lunging towards Shiro.

Shiro didn’t think twice before he headed for the door. As he tugged his shoes on, he saw Keith’s broken gaze on him, even as Lance positioned his body as if to shield Keith, like Shiro was some kind of monster.

Maybe Shiro _was_.

He turned his back to the brothers and wrenched the door open, hoping to forget the entire night all together. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and kept his head down as he walked. More than hurt or upset, Shiro was ashamed of himself.

He and Lance had been friends since kindergarten. They did nearly everything together. He was even at the hospital where Keith was born when they were seven. Shiro was practically an honorary McClain son. Lance and Keith's parents treated him like he was their own. On more occasions that not, Keith even referred to him as his brother. Hell, he even picked up on calling Keith "baby bear", the nickname Lance had decided on a few weeks after Keith was born.

Shiro had watched Keith grow with his very eyes. He didn't know how he went from viewing Keith as the kid he grew up with to the kid he wanted to kiss. He'd never dared to cross that line. Being around Lance so much meant that Shiro was well aware of how protective Lance could be over Keith. Even now, with Keith about to finish his senior year in high school, Lance prevented any and everybody from getting too close to his precious baby brother.

Shiro guessed he never imagined he’d have to keep Keith away from _him_.

Shiro should have been the one person Lance could’ve whole-heartedly trusted to keep Keith safe. They all grew up together, and Shiro had done his fair share of keeping Keith out of harm’s way.

But now, Shiro had permanently fractured that trust. All because he was—apparently—stupidly attracted to Keith and unable to push him away.

Groaning to himself, Shiro settled on the curb. It was chilly outside, even with his sweatshirt on. He tugged the hood up and folded his arms across his knees. He felt like shit, to put it plainly. He didn’t know how to fix this, or if it was even possible _to_ fix this. After this, Lance would probably kick him out.

Shiro wouldn’t blame him.

The sound of footsteps made him freeze. His mind helpfully supplied that it might be Lance, come to deliver the finishing blow and end Shiro for good. He squared his shoulders, preparing for the second part to their earlier fight.

“You walk pretty fast, Shiro.”

Shiro’s head snapped up. It wasn’t Lance. It was Keith, looking sullen but otherwise okay. He settled beside Shiro on the curb and stared out at the streetlight across the road.

“What are you doing?” Shiro asked.

“Lance took off to Hunk and Pidge’s place. Figured I should look for you.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” Shiro said. “I would’ve come back eventually.”

“Not with Lance on the warpath,” Keith said with a snort.

A heavy silence settled between them then. Shiro’s mind was blank, and he found himself desperate to think of something, _anything_ to say. But nothing felt right, and Shiro resigned himself to saying nothing.

“He’s not mad at you, you know,” Keith murmured.

“I think you’re wrong there, Keith,” Shiro whispered, shaking his head decisvely. Keith rolled his eyes, the moonlight casting long shadows on his face that made him look older than he was.

“He’s mad at himself,” Keith explained. “He thinks I’m still a kid. Lance doesn’t realize that I’m eighteen or that I can make my own decisions. He thinks that because I’m his baby brother, he has to always protect me.”

That…made sense.

“He trusted me to keep you safe too,” Shiro said. “But I violated his trust. He’ll never want to be around me again.”

“You’re his best friend, Shiro,” Keith said. “Lance may seem like he’s got a lot of friends, but you’re the only one he really cares about. Trust me.”

“Keith…”

“Did you mean it?” Keith said suddenly.

“What?” Shiro asked in confusion. Keith’s eyebrows knit together tightly.

“You said you didn’t mean for this to happen,” Keith said, pausing to gesture between them. “Was that true?”

Shiro took a moment to think about his answer. He couldn’t bear to look at the crushed expression on Keith’s face, so he forced his gaze elsewhere. His heart hammered loudly in his ears as his mind scrambled to come up with an answer.

“I don’t know,” Shiro finally admitted. He felt Keith tense beside him, and hastened to continue. “I know that I don’t want Lance to hate me, or to be angry with you. But I can’t stand you being hurt because of me.”

“You’re not going to hurt me, Takashi,” Keith said earnestly, Shiro’s name dripping of his tongue like honey. Shiro almost wanted to close his eyes and savor it. “I trust you more than anything.”

“Keith, please.” Shiro was getting desperate now. If they continued, there would be anyway to step back from this ledge.

“I love you,” Keith said, crowding closer. “And I know you love me too.”

Shiro was at war with himself. He could only think of what Lance would do if he were to see them _again_. Images of his bloody and inevitable demise seemed to flash before his eyes. But when Keith’s lips crashed against his for the second time that night, Shiro’s mind went blank. Incapable of doing anything other than to kiss Keith back, he was out of breath when they finally broke away.

“C’mon,” Keith said, standing and shooting Shiro a boyish smirk that warmed him to his toes. “We’ve got a few hours until big bro comes storming back. Might as well make the most of it.”

Shiro stood instantly, helpless to do anything but what Keith wanted.


End file.
